


Distraught Thoughts

by LuvBusters



Category: The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurities, family ties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuvBusters/pseuds/LuvBusters
Summary: Janine has a hard time with emotional issues after her ordeal with the Lotsabucks.
Relationships: Egon Spengler/Janine Melnitz
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	Distraught Thoughts

A/N: Again, takes place twelve hours after the defeat of the Makeoveris Lotsabucks. My stories are based on RGB for the most part and for me, that episode was the crucial tipping point of Egon and Janine’s relationship. Spoiler Alert: Extreme Fluff will follow. 

Janine had called the firehouse around 5:30 pm. The guys had finished dinner (Chinese takeout) when Egon answered the phone. Janine was hysterical on her end, crying that she needed help. Her emotions were out of control and she couldn’t handle it. Egon had advised her to stay there and he would come to her. She insisted on driving to the firehouse.

By the time she arrived, the guys were anxiously waiting by the door. They rushed up to the car after she pulled up. It took nearly ten minutes for Peter to talk her down enough to loosen her grip on the steering wheel. 

The guys helped her upstairs to the rec room and were gathered around her as she sat on the couch. She was wearing jeans and a light blue T-shirt. Her makeup had melted from her face since she had been crying non stop since her arrival. 

Ray brought her a glass of water; Winston handed her a tissue. Egon sat on her right side holding her hand while Peter sat on her left. 

“Janine, can you tell me what’s happening?” Peter asked, speaking very gently.

She wiped her tears and her nose, sniffling a few times. After a deep sigh, she began. “I can’t narrow it down to just one thing. I was going through my closet; now that I’ve changed back to my previous size, the clothes need to be changed out. The more I looked at them, the madder I got. I’m mad at myself for being so stupid!” 

Egon placed his hand on her shoulder. “It was all my fault, Janine.”

She looked at him in surprise. “This wasn’t just about YOU! Sure, I had hoped it would make you admit if you felt anything for me, but I was tired of being judged! I’ve been judged all my life! It’s only gotten worse over the years! Girls at school who thought I wasn’t good enough to be their friend, guys who never even considered asking me out! I mean, what the HELL WAS SO BAD ABOUT ME?! I know I’m not Miss America but DAMN! I’m a PERSON with FEELINGS!”

She pulled another tissue from the box Winston offered. Then she began again. “I thought shit like that would stop after high school but it didn’t! I was engaged once, but found him in the bed with another girl! She was taller, prettier, less freckly than me; no glasses, no damn ACCENT! Maybe if I had more class, it would’ve worked out? I’m just never gonna be good enough! I HATE MYSELF! WHY COULDN’T THE CHANGES HAVE STAYED?!” She was screaming angrily by that point, quickly escalating into a panic attack.

Peter tried to calm her down, but Janine jerked away from him. She was panicking because of the lack of oxygen but at the same time, couldn’t stop hyperventilating. 

Egon quickly grabbed her by the shoulders as Peter stood up abruptly. Ray and Winston crowded in, not knowing what to do. 

“JANINE! STAY WITH ME!” Egon pleaded.

But it was too late. Janine’s eyes rolled back as her body fell limply in his arms. Egon’s hand cradled her head. Winston grabbed her wrist.

“No pulse! Get her on the floor for CPR!” Winston urged.

Peter and Ray moved the coffee table back while Egon gently placed Janine flat on the floor. He tilted her head back to begin mouth to mouth while Peter knelt by her side. 

“I’ll do compressions; you breathe!” He shouted to Egon.

The men began CPR, Ray and Winston watching closely for signs of Janine regaining consciousness. 

“Come on, Honey! Breathe!” Peter said in between compressions. 

Egon began to worry; they had been trying to revive her for nearly three minutes. Suddenly, just as he was leaning in to begin another round of mouth to mouth, Janine’s eyes flew open; she opened her mouth trying desperately to pull in air. Peter grabbed her hands and pulled her to a sitting position. 

Ray handed her another glass of water. Janine gulped it down quickly. “Can I have another one please?” she asked, breathing heavily.

“Sure!” He rushed back to the kitchen and quickly returned with another glass. 

Again, she gulped it down, requesting another one.

“Janine, you should slow down a bit,” Egon softly advised her. 

“I’m just so thirsty!” she said before downing another glass.

“She’s dehydrated from all the crying and what she’s been through,” Winston explained. 

After five glasses of water, Janine was finally ready to stop. She then looked very worried. “Is it possible to run some kind of test to make sure her hold on me is gone? Just so I can rest easy?”

Ray and Egon exchanged looks and smiled.

“We could run the REM test?” Ray suggested.

“Yes, that would be sufficient,” Egon agreed. 

“What does it do?” she asked warily.

Ray explained excitedly. “We hook electrodes to your temples and it records your brain activity while you sleep!”

Peter grinned. “So, what you’re saying is, the results won’t show anything?”

Janine playfully punched his arm. “Ass,” she mumbled but grinning the whole time.

“I’ll get it ready!” Ray offered, jumping up and running to the lab. 

“How is my brain activity gonna show anything?” Janine asked Egon.

“If there are any PKE signatures left, it will show on the monitor. But I highly doubt there will be any. Otherwise, you would still look the way you did after the physical changes. However, your original physical attributes have returned; the only thing still different is your voice.”

“And I can hear a slight change in that!” Winston pointed out. 

Janine frowned. “I’d be ok if that accent never came back.” 

“But that’s part of your personality!” Peter said. “It’s what helped make you …. YOU!”

She shook her head, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. “Maybe I can learn how to suppress it?” 

“Please don’t change anything else,” Egon said gently, squeezing her shoulder. 

She looked up at him, tears threatening to fall again. “You can’t tell me that you like it?”

Egon smiled warmly. “It’s part of your charm and part of the original you that I fell in love with. I wouldn’t mind if it came back.”

She giggled nervously, wiping her tears away. “Then let’s get this test done! I need some sleep!”

*********************  
Soon, Ray had Janine hooked up and ready to go. She was lying comfortably on Egon’s “nap sofa.” Egon was sitting beside her on a stool beside the couch. Peter was sitting in a chair next to the end of the couch where Janine’s head was. Ray was sitting at the computer desk watching the monitor closely. Winston was standing just behind Ray, curiously watching the monitor. 

“Just close your eyes and relax,” Egon said softly. 

“Yeah, breathe slowly and deeply. Just let yourself drift away,” Peter whispered. 

Soon, she was in a deep sleep. The monitor was steadily recording her sleep patterns. “So far, so good,” Ray whispered. “No PKE signatures, not even residuals.”

“Good,” Egon replied. He had quietly joined Ray and Winston by the computer desk, closely watching the testing. 

A few minutes passed with no changes. “She’s entering the REM cycle,” Ray whispered. 

Peter remained close by the couch as Janine’s facial features started to frown. Her head began shaking from side to side. “No! No!” she mumbled in her sleep.

Peter knelt by the couch, leaning close to Janine’s ear. “Where are you? What’s happening?” he whispered.

“It’s Egon, he’s hurt,” she whimpered. “I’ve hurt him! No! I’ve KILLED HIM! EGON!” She screamed, sitting up and opening her eyes. The electrodes were still hooked to her temples but pulled to their limits.

“Janine! Whoa! It’s ok, honey. I’ve gotcha,” Peter whispered as he sat on the edge of the sofa, gathering her in his arms. 

She had her arms around him, holding onto his shirt sleeves with a death grip. Ray stepped over and carefully removed the electrodes. “The results are compiling; we’ll have the finalized results in a few minutes,” he told Janine, smiling.

Peter motioned for Egon to come over, switching places so Egon could hold her. He held her close as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. She was trying to calm down but not succeeding very well.

“I was dreaming that I attacked you guys. I was floating in the air and attacked you with a blast. Except for Egon,” she cried as she pulled back to look at Egon directly. “I KILLED EGON!” She began crying hard again, quickly escalating into another panic attack.

“Winston, can you please get my bag from the top desk drawer?” Peter asked calmly. 

Winston grabbed what looked like a small shaving kit travel bag from the desk drawer. He handed it to Peter. He opened it to reveal a syringe and a small vial of medication. He kept a sedative on hand in case any of them ever had extreme issues after dealing with bad busting calls. 

Egon was holding Janine and trying to calm her down, but not having any luck. Peter quietly stepped over and injected Janine’s upper arm with the sedative. Within seconds, her breathing slowed down and she quickly fell asleep. 

As Egon carefully laid her back down on the couch, Ray printed out the test results. “She’s ok! No signs of any PKE signatures!” 

“Shhhhh!” Winston said, lightly nudging Ray in the side with his elbow. 

“Sorry, but Janine’s ok!” Ray handed the results to Egon.

“I don’t think she could hear a nuclear blast at this point,” Peter replied, checking Janine’s pulse. “Her heart rate is good, too. But she cannot have another panic attack like the one she had in the rec room earlier. She’s still very weak from what that damn witch demon did to her! You guys know as well as I do that if she has another fit like that, she won’t recover.” His voice was solemn as he looked at the guys, slowly directing his gaze solely to Egon. “She needs lots of rest. After that, she’ll probably start to feel better and hopefully, start regaining her old personality back.”

Egon remained by Janine’s side on the couch while the others quietly left the lab. Peter turned at the door to look back once more. He smiled as he watched Egon lean in and tenderly kissed Janine on the lips. He then sat back in the chair holding her hand. 

**************************  
It was nearly midnight when Peter, Winston and Ray were ready to go to bed. “I’m gonna take a quick peek in on our lovebirds,” Peter said. 

Meanwhile, Janine had awoken, another nightmare haunting her dreams. Egon was holding her close, his arms wrapped around her. He was whispering words of comfort in her ear. 

She was crying but had calmed down considerably. “Please don’t leave me!” she kept begging. “I can’t handle it if anything happens to you! I can’t live like that! I can’t lose you, not now!” 

“Shhhh, you won’t lose me. I’m not leaving. I’m right here and always will be.” He repeated to her softly.

Peter walked in, worried at the sight. He sat down on the stool next to the couch. “Spengs, talk to me. What happened?” he asked quietly.

Egon explained as he continued to rock Janine gently, her cries slowly subsiding. “She keeps saying things like don’t leave her and she can’t handle it if something happens to me. I think it’s the nightmare; she’s obsessing over it.”

He watched as Peter’s expression changed from concerned to finding the solution. As Janine fell back to sleep, Egon gently laid her back on the couch. He held her hand as he looked back at Peter. “You have a theory?”

Peter nodded. “Janine’s waited for seven years on you. Now that she finally has you, she’s afraid of losing you. Remember what she said? Her ex fiancé cheated on her. It stands to reason that old insecurity still lives in the back of her mind. And she’s always worried about you on calls, every time we go out. Or maybe she’s afraid one day she’ll do or say something stupid that will drive you away. You’ve just gotta prove to her that you won’t.”

“But she should know that! I would never hurt her or leave her! I love her! She’s the love of my life!” Egon looked surprised as he said those words but then smiled. “How about that? I’m in love!” 

Peter smiled. “Our little Iggy is in love!” he cooed playfully. He got up to leave the lab. “Try to sleep, ok?”

“I’ll sleep right here,” Egon said, pointing to the desk chair. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

***************************  
The next morning, Egon woke a few minutes before Janine. She sat up and looked around, orienting herself with her surroundings. She smiled at Egon. 

“Sleep well?” he asked.

“Better than you!” she said, nodding at the desk chair. “I’m sorry. I should go home so you can rest properly.”

Egon stood and joined Janine, who was sitting up on the couch. “I slept well enough. I didn’t want to leave you here alone. If you had another nightmare, I wanted to be here.” He reached over and held her hand. “I know you’re frightened. But I love you and will never leave you. No matter what happens, we’ll handle it together.”

She teared up. “But Egon, you can't control the future! What if you get hurt or if I do something really dumb or….,”

He placed a finger over her lips. “You’re right, Janine. I don’t have a crystal ball to see into the future. I can’t control things. All I do know for sure is that we have this moment, right now. Let’s agree to make the most of it now while we can. That way, we’ll have memories of the times we did have together instead of regrets of things that we didn’t do. And in fifty years from now, if we’re both still here, we’ll remember this moment and laugh.” He then placed a kiss on her forehead. “Otherwise, we’ll drive ourselves insane and have nothing to show for it.”

Janine slowly smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You know, Dr. Spengler, you’d make one helluva psychologist!” She kissed him back on the lips. 

He smiled back afterwards. “Maybe, but don’t tell Peter.”

She hugged him tight as she giggled. Egon held her tighter, knowing with relief that she would truly be ok in time, and that the future looked brighter knowing that she’d be there by his side.


End file.
